I U Jonathon Demme's "Beloved" screens this afternoon at Lorch. Following the screening of the 1998 film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover is a discussion about both the Toni Morrison novel and the film. 3 p.m. e idngan ri y Tuesday in Daily Arts: U A review of James Spader's newest attempt at reviving his career, the latest sci-fi hell "Supernova." Friday January 14, 2000 5 Rxder's'Girl' lacks book's realism By Laura Flyer Daily Arts Writer Susanna Kaysen's autobiographi- cal novel, "Girl, Interrupted," is a fascinating story not because it is told from the perspective of a mental patient (Ken Kesey already gave this vision to us earlier), but rather because she delivers introspective details that are gripping to read. She brings us into her mind and tries her best to describe her mental process- es, thereby minimizing the distanc- ing effect caused by trying to under- stand the insane. Scientific terminol- ogy and psychiatric analysis may Courtesy of Fox Malcolm (Frankie Munz) looks a little too much like that Chuckie doll from "Child's Play." Litle 'alcolm'd-uv h raies arg lagh }L Interrupted At Briarwood and and Quality 16 describe the con- dition compre- hensively, but one wonders whether or not apt connections are made between the diagnosis and the therapeutic some attention as a flamboyant char- acter who also acts as a friend and mentor However, the film lacks in realism in various ways. It does not do justice to Kaysen's probing self- awareness as delineated in he'r novel. "Girl, Interrupted" begins in 1967 with Kaysen's entrance into Claymoore, a mental hospital in a suburb of Boston, after she washes down a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. She claims it was not an attempted suicide, but rather an effort to put an end to her tortured mind. Her entrance into the institu- tion is voluntary, though she could not have escaped the pressure from her doctor, who diagnosed Kaysen, simultaneously pre-arranged for a cab, and warned the driver not to stop until they reached Claymoore. Occupying many constituents of wealthy families, Claymoore boasts of a hotel-like atmosphere. The patients peep out of their rooms upon the arrival of Susanna, and we see how Mangold does not fail to include an entire spectrum of insane person- alities. Kaysen has a troupe of close friends who idolize her and back her up in any situation. Georgina (Clea Duvall) is a compulsive liar (her dec- laration of this to Susanna is similar to that of Ally Sheedy's in "The Breakfast Club"), Daisy (Brittany Murphy) is high-strung and has an eating disorder and Polly (Elizabeth Moss) has a self-inflicted burn on her face. They are all stereotyped into flat personalities, riddled with insecurities and each having a cute, little quirkiness to them. Because it would be quite difficult to convey Kaysen's vivid descrip- tions of herself in the novel, Mangold instead conjures a safely- By Erin Podolsky Daily Arts Writer A non-stop chatterbox of a kid who talks to the camera while being an inad- vertent prankster. Body hair and cripple jokes. While "Malcolm in the Middle" might read at first glance like a typical episode of "Tom Green," I assure you it's anything but. For starters, it's funny. For finishers, it's funny. The new half-hour sitcom from Fox throws over convention for a more innovative look and feel closer to "Freaks and Geeks." "Malcolm in the Middle" shares both an easy realism and a comedic sensibility with that show while retaining a style of its own. It leans toward things that actually hap- pen as opposed to things that could never happen but are funny all the same. There are moments when this can get to be too much - Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) directly addresses the audience Malcolm in the Middle Fox Sundays at 8:30 p.m. with a commen- tary strangely reminiscent in its self-awareness of, dare I say it, Zack Morris. Then again, maybe growing up the third child of four in a household where monev is tight and affec- tion is tighter (one of the show's running gags is that Mom only oblivious to their frontal nudity. Malcolm's mom, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), runs the house with equal parts comedic abuse and love. In an episode airing in two weeks, she unleashes punishment after punishment on her unruly kids, trying to McCarthy them into admitting which one of them burned her brand new dress. These include piping Barney the Dinosaur songs into their bedroom and forcing them to run in circles until they're sure they'll puke. Her husband (Bryan Cranston) is an ineffectual sort that defers constantly to Lois. Mom - and the rest of the clan, as well - subscribe to the theorv that it's okay for her to make fun of her kids, but if anybody else so much as lays an unkind word on them, they're toast. It's actually a really nice family ethic, and the bonds between them are strong beneath the hijinks. Bright-eyed cutic-pie Muniz and no- nonsense Kaczmarek are clearly the standouts of the show, but the other cast members do their jobs well. Oldest brother Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) is off at military school for acting up beyond the call of duty. Since Francis is the only brother he can actu- ally stomach, Malcolm consider his exile just another thing in his life that isn't fair - not to mention a punishment aimed directly at him, not Francis. This leaves him with second brother Reese (Justin Berfield) and younger brother Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan). Reese likes to make knuckle sandwiches while Dewey has flatulence issues. The last of these is a rather cheap joke that the show could do without, but that's a minor complaint. Sunday's episode will feature a Krelboyne circus in which all of the dorky smart kids perform tricks. Stuff like proving Fermat's Theorem with posterboard or giant electromagnets aren't out of the realm of possibility. Naturally, Malcolm wants to be at the circus with his family like he wants a dose of the clap, but being I1-years-old he currently has to worry more about the former than the latter. The circus turns out to be a great fish-out-of-water exercise, as Malcolm's entire family is out of their element and can't believe how weird the other families are. But it's not that the other families are weird so much as Malcolm's family is incredibly normal. They tussle, they yell, they make fun of each other. And at the end of the day, they're still together. And funny Always funny. And what good is a sitcom that isn't funny? conditions of curing the insane. You can- not condescend to the insane because their minds aren't as focused as the sane. Nor can you expect that dulling their hallucinations with shocks or numb- ing their mental anguishes with med- ications will cure them. James Mangold brings some pow- erful, intense actresses to the screen in , his adaptation of "Girl, Interrupted." Winona Ryder, who plays Susanna, is very appealing to watch on the screen, portraying a troubled yet intelligent girl (and her beauty doesn't hurt, either). Similarly, Angelina Jolie also draws construed plot of a troublesome rela- tionship between the quiet, contem- plative Susanna and the popular, out- going Lisa. Susanna has trouble dealing with Lisa's blatant honesty and rash actions, but looks up to her for guidance. Therefore, Susanna's path towards redeeming her sanity is pushed into the backdrop, so that when nurse Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg) preaches soul- searching or her psychiatrist (Vanessa Redgrave) pushes her to find the sani- ty within her self, Mangold is lamely A Cappella group Take 6 to close MLK Day I By Nick Falzone Daily Arts Writer For the past week, the University's Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium has demonstrated the many ways in which the late Reverend's famous dream is being pursued currently. On Monday, to continue this demonstra- tion, Take 6, the world-renowned a cappella musical group, will be mak- ing their University Musical Society Take 6 Hill Auditorium Monday at 8 p.m. debut in Ann Arbor, The group, which special- izes in gospel, R&B and vocal jazz, is com- prised, not sur- prisingly, of six members - six A f r i c a n - American men who have been embraced wholeheartedly by the music Courtesy of Columbra Pictures Winona Ryder and Angela Jolie bond in James Mangold's "Girl, Interrupted." finding a medium through which Susanna will be "inspired" by a cure. Her character, initially intending to be portrayed as extremely strong (not stubborn) and intelligent, instead evolves into one who seems extremely impressionable and weak. While most of "Girl, Interrupted" does not seem to be fashioned after "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,"it seems to remind us of its counterpart in that it does not nearly compare to the latter in terms of its depth, realism and emotional charge. °' . ~. =q. ; .. s. ,,' , x strong belief in God, a spirituality that they try to incorporate into their vocal pieces. Since Martin Luthcr King Jr. also clearly had a deep inter- est in religion, UMS Director of Marketing and Promotion Sara Billmann said the group's spirituality was one of the reasons UMS invited the group to perform durin, this month's symposium. "We've been looking at the group for a while and looking for the right time to present them," Billmann said. "We thought that they would be a great closing for the symposium, especially since they focus on spiri- tual and gospel music." Although Take 6 will be making their UMS debut this Monday, they have performed previously in Ann Arbor at the annual Summer Festival. Billmann said that their popular reception at the festival was also a contributing factor in including the group in the MLK Symposium. The group has not decided to announce its repertoire until they come on stage Monday night, a prac- tice that Billmann says is common for popular musical groups. She added, though, that she expects some of the songs the members have selected will be relevant to King and his philosophies. has enough good food for two of her kids, so the last is stuck with, say, egg salad) will do that to a kid. The other easy explanation is that Malcolm is a genius. No, really. Tested with an IQ of 165, one of the founda- tions of "Malcolm in the Middle" is that poor Malcolm, who just wants to be a regular kid and not get beat up by bullies or stomped on by his older brother, is yanked out of the normal class and stuck in the Krelboyne trailer, where all of the gifted kids are exiled to for easier ridiculing on the playground. These include wheelchair-bound Stevie Kanarban (Craig Lamar Traylor), a breathless paraplegic who, in the show's greatest moments, knows exact- ly what cards to play despite his fagade of naivete. Back at home, Malcolm - who is also breathless, due to his penchant for endlessly run-on sentences thrown pell- mell at the audience - and his brothers roughhouse with the best of them and cope with their parents, who have a penchant for wandering the house , A Courtesy of Reprise Records Members of Take 6 make their UMS debut at Hill Auditorium as part of MLK Day. industry ever since their debut in the late '80s. They have received multi- ple awards for their vocal work, including seven Grammys and five Doves, the top prize in the world of gospel music. In addition to garnering some of the most prestigious accolades in the world of music, Take 6 has demon- strated its vocal talent on many movie soundtracks, such as Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" and Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy." They have also performed and recorded with a variety of prominent vocalists, like Quincy Jones, k.d lang and Stevie Wonder. Although Take 6 debuted profes- sionally in 1988, the group traces its origins to 1980 when five of the members met each other while per- forming in a college a cappella group in Huntsville, Alabama. A sixth member joined the group soon after and Take 6 was born. Besides the Take+ being skilled musicians, 6 members also have a - v~~~.-'..A 4, V